What is it about a ferry ride?! Perhaps because a significant amount of my happiest childhood memories involve riding in, or being pulled behind, a boat, I have a visceral fondness for watercraft. This fact is quite amusing considering I spent eight years in the Navy and was not once stationed aboard a ship 😊 Whatever the reason, I just can’t seem to resist taking a ferry with my motorcycle anytime the opportunity presents itself! So, when I saw the Peel Ferry Loop in the Arkansas Motorcycling Guide, I planned the day’s ride around it.
The Peel Ferry Loop begins in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and makes a loop through Missouri, including the city of Branson, before dropping back into Arkansas and crossing Bull Shoals Lake. The scenery was beautiful and the riding leisurely!
Running approximately 720 miles, the White River cuts a path through the Ozarks in Missouri and Arkansas before ending its journey in the Deltas. Eight dams along its course (six in Arkansas, two in Missouri) create 6 lakes that provide numerous opportunities for recreation, especially world-renowned fishing. I did a U-turn in Forsyth, Missouri after crossing the bridge, in order to go back and explore River Run Park (photo).
I pulled up to Peel Ferry just as it had started its journey across Bull Shoals Lake. No worries, the 2-mile voyage only takes about 20 minutes, so I just visited with the other couple of bikers who pulled up behind me in the waiting queue. As the last ferry shuttling people and vehicles across any lake or river in Arkansas, I felt like I was riding a bit of history as we glided along the waters.
As one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states, Buffalo National River flows freely for 135 miles. It originates from the same headwaters as the White River in the west, and terminates into the same sister river in the east at Buffalo City, Arkansas. The first to be designated as a National River, the Buffalo River remains wild and is protected by the National Park Service.
After stretching my legs and walking up to a scenic overlook behind the Tyler Bend Visitor Center along the Buffalo National River, I pulled out my map and started looking for an ending point for the day. Mountain View, Arkansas looked to be about as far as I wanted to go for the day, so once I got back in cell phone range, I pulled up lodging options where a B&B called the Wildflower caught my eye. Upon my arrival, the owner got me squared away with a perfectly quaint little room and gave me the scoop on the town. He told me that Mountain View is known as the “Folk Music Capital of the World,” and wow, he wasn’t kidding!
Located on “the square” of downtown Mountain View, the Wildflower B&B is the PERFECT location for checking out this little town. It is just a couple of blocks from Washington Square Park, where there is always locals “pickin” a stringed instrument of some sort and belting out mountain tunes.
I hadn’t walked two blocks from the B&B when I stumbled upon a little group pickin and singing on the porch of Mountain View Music. The group of women on the porch when I stopped by played and bantered like they were old friends.
I was told that P.J.’s Rainbow Café was THE place In Mountain View to have an authentic Ozark region dinner, so I walked a couple of blocks to this town icon. The whole meal was delicious, but the fried corn ribs (quartered corn on the cob deep fried in some kind of magic batter and looking like a rattlesnake’s tail) was particularly tasty as was the pecan and chocolate filled Ozark Mountain Pie. Oh, so good!
Veggie plate special of turnip greens, pinto beans, fried okra, rattlesnake fried corn ribs, and cornbread. Ms. Reda’s pecan and chocolate filled Ozark Mountain Pie!
Before dinner, I was walking by Washington Square Park and heard beautiful singing and guitar playing, so I sat down on a park bench and enjoyed the performance with a few other folks. Carolina Mendoza, the talented artist putting on the show and nicknamed “Voice of the Mountain,” advised us to go to the Mountain View Meeting Place later for a live performance by The Parker Unit. The venue was next door to my B&B, so I moseyed on over after eating and joined the forming crowd for Club Possum, a free music show highlighting local talent three days a week. The level of talent from these local youngsters was simply unbelievable. It just so happens that the 2-hour performance of folk, mountain, gospel, cowboy and country music was recorded and you can watch it by clicking HERE.
After such a wonderful evening of mountain food and music, I was eager to experience more of the region’s culture, so I headed up the road to the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Open seasonally from April to October, “the park offers visitors an opportunity to watch artisans work, to stroll through the Heritage Herb Garden, and to hear live Southern mountain music.” With more than 20 working artisans demonstrating, creating and selling handmade items in the center’s Craft Village, there was so much to see and do! There were jewelry makers, leather workers, basket weavers, broom makers, stained glass artisans, blacksmiths, bladesmiths, potters, quilters, weavers, wood carvers, soap and candle makers. It was truly an all-encompassing experience.
It just so happened that The Parker Unit was the featured musical talent the same day I visited the Ozark Folk Center State Park, so I was excited to get to experience their talent again. The band is made of bass player Gresham McMillian and three of the Parker family siblings; Mary (age 19), Gordon (age 17), and Charlene (age 10). Each of the siblings have won awards for their fiddle or mandolin playing and were a delight to watch and hear.
There was no place you could go in Mountain View that you wouldn’t hear someone pickin and singing or run into a stringed instrument shop. I finally asked someone how such a tiny town has such a high concentration of musical talent. The answer: The Music Roots Program in Stone County. The program “provides traditional folk music instruction in the local schools. Skilled musicians provide youth with classes in traditional folk instruments: guitar, banjo, autoharp, dulcimer, mandolin and fiddle. Classes are held during the school day to ensure participation, and instruments are provided for the students to use as long as they are in the Music Roots Program” free of charge! Hmm, I wonder if Louisiana has a similar program to ensure that the tradition of Cajun music doesn’t die out? (Info from Old Time Ozarks Traditions website)
As much as I enjoyed my time in Arkansas, it was time for me to head east towards Tennessee and a much-anticipated homestay with Navy family.
FitHippie Adventures 
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